The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has written the Norfolk Southern Railway describing the chemicals found at the site of a Feb. 3 train derailment and controlled burn in East Palestine, Ohio, that some local residents have linked to sickness or death among animals.
The Feb. 10 letter from the EPA to Norfolk Southern notes “multiple rail cars and tankers were observed derailed, breached, and/or on fire.”
Coverage of the incident has mainly stressed the presence of vinyl chloride, a chemical used to make PVC pipes and other products. The National Cancer Institute notes that vinyl chloride has been linked to cancers of the brain, lungs, blood, lymphatic system, and, in particular, the liver….